Means for rotating pump rod in a well



N0v.21',1939. A'. E POULSEN 2,180,880

MEANS Fol-1 ROTATING PUMP Ron 1N A WELL Filed July 5,. 1958l Fol? THE Rr'f TTORNEKS.

lj, "v4 7 HREKmcgFosg/ed ARR/5 Patented Noam, 1939 l y2,180,880 I A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE' amas f msl'omw'rggmlonm Alfred Poulsen. Los Angeles, Calif. Application July s, 193s, serial No. 211,329 s claims. (ci. s55-14)' My invention relates to oil 'well apparatus, of the rate of rotation relatively-simple by arwith particular reference tol pumping equipment. ranging for a simple numerical relationship beand is directed to improved means for rotating tween the rate at which the string o`f -rods is the string of rods in a well in the course of pumpreciprocated and the rate at which the string of ing operations. rods isrotated. l 5

In a pumping outilt to which my invention is The above and other objects of my invention applicable, a deep well pump is actuated by a will be apparent in the more detailed descripstring of rods in the well tubing, the rods termition of my invention to follow. nating in a polished rod that extends through In the drawing:

the casing head at the well surface. 'I'he string Fig. 11s a side elevation of a typical well pumpl0 of rods is reciprocated by some actuating means ing unit incorporating my invention;

driven by a prime mover. Atypical arrangement Fig. 2 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale includes a horsehead on the end of a walking-V of my invention partly in section, taken as indibeam having flexible means," such as a cable, opycated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

eratively connected with the polished rod. It Fig. 3 is ahorizontal section taken as indicated 15 has heretofore been noted in the art that at by the line l-S of Fig. 2; y certain dispositions of a string of, pump rods Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken as' indicated there is often local friction between the rods and by the linev 4-l of Fig. 3; and tubing, generally at one or more couplings in the Fig. 5 is a side elevation on a reduced scale 29- tubingstring. Should the string of rods be conof a modlcation of my invention. 20 tinuously operated in such unfavorable disposi- For the purposes of this disclosure, I elect to tion over an extended period of time, the wear describe my invention as incorporated in a caused by the friction may become so serious pumping outfit that is characterized by a horseas to necessitate replacement of couplings and head on the end of a walking-beam and by a rods and even replacement of portions of the pair of cables suspended from the horsehead for 25 tubing. To avoid such ditllculties in the operasupporting the string of rods in the well, but it tion of well pumping equipment, means have will b'e understoodl by those .skilled in the art heretofore been devised to continuously rotate that the principles of my invention may be adaptthe reciprocating string of rods to limit the pr'oed to any means for actuating a string of rods, portion of operating time during which the string and maybe adapted to any means for connect- 30 of rods is reciprocated at a wear-producing dising the String 0f rods thereto. position. The general object of my invention is Fig. 1 shows a typical pumping outfit that into provide an improved means for such purpose. cludes a walking-beam I0 mounted on a post Il, one of the objects of my'invention is to prothe walking-beam being driven by a connecting vide a mechanism for rotating the string of rods rod I2 that extends upward from mechanism in 35 that reciprocates with the rods and is actuated a housing Il. The mechanism in the housing is by engagement with a stop means in the course actuated by a prime mover. Such aS a motor i4; of such reciprocation. In the preferred form of through the medium 0f 8 drive belt i5 extending my invention the mechanism for rotating the t0 n Pulley i3 011 the Side 0f the housing I3.' 40 string of rods includes adriving arm adapted The well with which the pumping mechanism 4o when reciprocated to actuate the mechanism, and iS associated has 8 Casing I8 Sealed by a casing the object of my invention is to arrange for such head i9, the lie-Sing Containing e String 0f tub- Y arm to be oscillated by means including a stopr ing 2l. At the lower end of the tubing iS a for deecting the arm in one direction. Pump 22 having a rod. 23 that is part of a string Usually, the string of rods is supported by 9, of rods terminating in a polished rod 24, the pair of cables from the horsehead of a walkingpolished IOd Slidingly extending through the beam. One object of my invention is to provide packing Elend 25 0f the Casing head in the usual arotatable connection for the rods that ,includes manner. adjustably spaced means for engagement by the In the typical construction shown in the drawcables. ing, the walking-beam ls provided with a horse- 50 y A further object of my invention is to provide head 21, from which depends a pair of spaced a simple and rugged rod rotating mechanism cables 28 for operative connection to the polished that may be readily adjusted for various rates rod 2l. Since the polished -rod must be free to of rotation. In the preferred form of my invenrotate, a rotatable connection is necessary betion it is my purpose to make the computation tween the polished rod and the cables 20. One

of the features of my invention is the provision of such a rotary connecting means that is adapted for connection with the two cables at adjustably spaced points.

The rotatable connection between the polished rod and the two cables may comprise a first member non-rotatably secured to the two` cables and a second member for supporting the polished rod 24, the second member being rotatably oonnected to the rst member. In the preferred form of my invention the rst member comprises a yoke, generally designated 3a, having two laterally spaced arms 3i, each of which arms is slidingly embraced by a stirrup 32 releasably held thereon by a suitable setscrew t3.

3@ closed by a clamp 35, each of the loops extending around one of the stizrups t2. The stirrups 32 may be adjusted on the arms 3i as required to conform with the spacing between the two cables 2h.

The yoke provides a vertical here 3? in which is journaled a tubular member il@ that is dimensioned to receive the polished rod 2d. The connection between thetubular member 33 and 'the polished rod is provided by a tting 59 that embraces and releasably grips the polished rod, the iitting resting on the upper end of the tubular member 3a. The iii-.ting 39 shown in the drawing is a well-known type oi grip adjuster, the clamping eiect of which is controlled by a nut 4a on a gripping means 4i. Interposed between the yoke 3il and a radial iiange 44 at the upper` end of the tubular member 38 is a suitable rollerbearing, generally designated 55, for supporting the tubular member 3B together with the string of rods in a freely rotatable manner.

Anyr suitable mechanism may be mounted on the yoke 30 for causing rotation of the tubular member 38, which rotation will be imparted to the polished rod 2e. rlhus, as suggested by the drawing, a worm gear el keyed to the lower*` end of the tubular member 38 may be driven by a complementaryworm 4t. The worm I8 is carried by a stub shaft 69 that is journaled in a pair of ears 5t extending from the yoke 30.

This mechanism for rotating the v.polished rod will, of course, reciprocate with the polished rod, and my invention contemplates the provision oi means for driving the mechanism that will move bodily with the mechanism and be actuated byv encountering stop means in the course of such reciprocation. Such a drive means, for example, may comprise a ratchet arm 52 rotatably mounted on the stub shaft l5 to cooperate with an adjacent ratchet wheel 53 that is keyed to the stub shaft, the ratchet arm being confined between the ratchet wheel and a washer 54 retained on the shaft by a nut 55. A detent member 5l `mounted in a socket 58 of the ratchet arm is continuously pressed against the periphery oi.' the ratchet wheel by a helical spring 59 in the socket, so that when the ratchet arm is swung in one direction, the detent will ride over the teeth 60 of the ratchet wheel without rotating the shaft 49, but when the ratchet arm is swung in the other direction, the detent will engage one of the teeth to cause the shaft to rotate. Itis apparent that oscillation of the ratchet arm 52 will cause the tubular member 38 and the polished rod Z4 to rotate.

In the preferred form of my invention shown in Fig. 1, the ratchet arm is constructed to swing downward by gravitation. To insure such gravitational movement, a weight 62 for the ratchet 'I'he lower l end of each of the cables Z8 is formed into a loop arm may be adjustably retained thereon by a setscrew 63; and to limit the gravitational movement, say at a horizontal position of the ratchet arm, a rod 84 may extend as a finger from the yoke 38. the finger serving as a rest for the.

ratchet arm at the lowermost angular position thereof. The opposite or upward movement of the ratchet arm is caused by a stop means encountered during the downstroke ofthe pump-l ing the wheel to rotate. Since the stop means t5 lies. in the path along which the ratchet arm is reciprocated, the downstroke of the pumping mechanism carries the ratchet arm against the stop means, the stop means interfering with the ratchet arm and causing relative movement hetween the ratchet arm and the polished rod by denecting the ratchet arm upward as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The upward swing of the ratchet arm imparts rotation to the ratchet wheel 53 through the detent member 5i, which rotation is transmitted tothe worm 48 and thereby imparted to the worm gear 4l to cause the tubular member 38 and the polished rod 2d to rotate.

For a given number of pump strokes per minute, the amount of rotation imparted to the polished rod will depend on the gear ratio of the rodrotating mechanism and upon the angle through which the ratchet arm 52 is oscillated. have found it convenient to design the rod-rotating,

mechanism with a thirty-to-one ratio and vto provide vforty-eight teeth on the periphery of lthe litt make one complete rotation in twenty-four.

hours. In other words, the number of pumping strokes per minute multiplied by the number of ratchet teeth traversed by the detent member 5l inl one stroke equals the number of complete rotations imparted to the polished rod in twentyfour hours.

The ratchet arm shown in the drawing has a maximum oscillation range corresponding to nine teeth of the ratchet wheel, so that the number of revolutions imparted to the polished rod in twenty-four hours will be between one and nine times the reciprocations per minute of the pumping mechanism, the rate depending upon the position of the stop '65 relative to the path of recipro cation of the ratchet arm. At the lowermost operative level of the stop 65, the ratchet arm will be deilected by the stop sufficiently to rotate the ratchet wheel through an angle corresponding to one tooth, and on the upstroke the ratchet arm gravitating downward will cause the detent member to traverse one tooth of theratchet' by simply raising the stop means to engage the ratchet arm earlier in the downstroke.

The modified form of my invention shown in Fig. 5 corresponds for the most part with the preferred form just described, corresponding parts being indicated by corresponding prime numbers. A stop 65' cooperates with a ratchet arm 52 in the same manner as heretofore described( Instead of depending upon gravity for the downward movement of the ratchet arm, however, in this form of my invention I depend upon positive means which serves, in eect, as a stop cooperative with the ratchet arm on the upstroke ofthe pumping mechanism. This second stop means may be in the form of a exible member such as a cord or cable 10 having its lower end anchored I to the well platform and its upper end attached to an eye 1| in the end of the ratchet arm 52. As the pumping mechanism nears the end of the upstroke, the cable 10 is placed under tension, pulling the ratchet arm 52 to a downward angle as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5. The cable should, of course, be adjusted toA cause a downward movement of the ratchet arm corresponding to the upward movement of the arm imparted by the stop means 65', the extent of each movement, of course, depending -upon the amount of rotation to be imparted to the string of rods.

My description will suggest to those skilled in the art various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit` of my conception, and I reserve the right to all such changes and modifications that properly come within the scope ing means being operatively connected with'the mechanism for driving the mechanism when moved relative thereto; and impingement means positioned in the path of reciprocation of said driving means for contact with said driving means to cause movement thereof relative to said mechanism for actuation of the mechanism, said impingement means being independent of said.

actuator and being adapted for contact with said driving member only along a limited zone of said reciprocation path whereby actuation of said mechanism is not affected by bodily movement of said mechanism outside of said zone.

2. The combination with a reciprocating actuator and polished rod driven thereby in oil well apparatus of means to rotate said polished rod,.

said means including: arevolvable connection between said polished rod and actuator to permit rotation of the polished rod; a ratchet mechanism operatively connected to said polished rod for rotation thereof; a drive member for said mechanism mounted to reciprocate up and down with the polished rod; anda fixed stop independent of and apart from said reciprocating actuator located in the path of reciprocation of said drive member to be struck by the drive member, thereby to cause movement of the drive member relative yto said ratchet mechanism to drive the mechanism.

3. The combination with a reciprocating actuator and polished rod driven thereby in oil well apparatus of means to rotate said polished rod, said means including: a revolvable connection between said polished rod and actuator to per-y mit rotation of the polished rod; a ratchet mechanism operatively connected to said polished rod for rotation thereof, said mechanism reciprocating up and down'with the polished rod; a lever for driving said mechanism, said lever being mounted on the mechanism to reciprocateup and down therewith and being disposed laterally of its path of reciprocation; and a flxed stop independent of and apart from said reciprocating actuator located in the path of reciprocation of said lever in a position to deflect said lever, thereby driving said mechanism.

. 4. The combination with a reciprocating actuator and polished rod driven thereby in oil well apparatus of means to rotate said polished rod, said means including: a revolvable connection between said polished rod and actuator to permit rotation of the polished rod; a ratchet mechanism operatively connectedv to said polished rod for rotation thereof, said mechanism reciprocating up and down with the polished rod; a lever rfor driving said mechanism, saidllever. being mounted on the mechanism to reciprocate up and down therewith and being disposed laterally of its path of reciprocation, said lever being weighted to gravitate pivotally to a given position; and a fixed stop independent of and apart from said reciprocating actuator located in the path of reciprocation of said levex` in a position to deflect said lever pivotally upward from said given position as said lever moves downward along its path of reciprocation, thereby driving said mechanism.

5. The combination with a reciprocating actuator and polished rod driven thereby in oil well apparatus of means to rotate said polished rod, said means including: a revolvable connection between said polished rod and actuator to permit rotation of the polished rod; a ratchet mechanism operatively connectedv to said polished rod for rotation thereof, said mechanism reciprocatingup and down with the polished rod; a lever for driving said mechanism, said lever being mounted onthe mechanism to reciprocate up and down therewith and being disposed laterally of its path of reciprocation, said lever being weighted to gravitate pivotally to a given position; a stop carried up and down with said lever and cooperative therewith to limit said gravitational pivotal movement at said given position; and a fixed stop independent of and apart from 4said reciprocating actuator located in the path of reciprocation of said lever in a position to deflect said lever pivotally upward from said given position as said lever moves downward along its path of reciprocation, thereby driving said mechanism. 6. The combination with a reciprocating actuator and polished rod driven thereby in oil well apparatus of means to rotate said polished rod, said means including: a revolvable connection between said polished rod and actuator to permit rotation of the polished rod; a worm gear operatively connected with said polished rod; a worm engaged with said worm gear; a ratchet mechanism for rotating said worm; a drive member for said ratchet mechanism mounted to reciprocate up and down with the polished rod; and a fixed stop independent of and apart from said reciprocating actuator located in the path of reciproca.- tion of said drive member to be struck by the drive member, thereby to cause movement of the drive -member relative to said ratchet mechanism to drive the mechanism.

7. A combination as set .forth in claim 6 in which said drive member is a lever disposed laterally of its path of reciprocation to. be deected upward by impact against said stop, said lever being weighted to gravitate after each impact back to the position from which it is deected by the impact.

8. A combination as set forth in claim 2 in which said ratchet mechanism includes gears. having a gear ratio such that the polished rod will be completely rotated in twenty-four hours a. number of times corresponding to the reciprocations per minute of the polish ed ma.

AIFRED E. POULSEN. 

